The Greatest Evidence of God's Love

4th Sunday of Lent Mar. 22, 2009 (Jn 3:14-21)

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God."

God is love and He loves us all. This is something very elementary for us Catholics. We all know this. In fact, John 3:16, a verse which speaks about God's love, is a very popular Bible verse. But sometimes, being too familiar with this fact, with this verse, we forget what it means. We are no longer in awe when we here about God's great love.

The Gospel for today speaks about how God loved the world so much. This He showed by giving to us His only Son to die for our salvation. Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love for us. This is how great God loves us: He allowed His Son to be subject to suffering and death in order to save us. All this He did even when we were still sinners. Imagine trying to risk your only son's life just to save criminals? But that is how God loved us.

Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love. In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus foretold His redemptive act of love in a metaphorical way. He spoke about how he must be raised up like the bronze serpent Moses raised up in the desert to save the Israelites who were bitten by snakes. Just as the Israelites were saved from death when they looked at the bronze serpent, so all of us will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

All the teachings of Christianity may be summed up in this one word: LOVE. The Gospel we proclaim is the Gospel of Love. God loved us first, and, in response, we must love God back and also love our neighbors.

God's love is so overwhelming that we ought to share it with other people. Therefore, God's love also gives us a mission - to make other people feel that God loves them too, just in case they might not feel it.

This Lent, we are invited to reflect on the magnitude of God's love. We ought to feel this love in remembering Jesus' redemptive act. We are also challenged to live according to the demands of God's love, in obedience to the commandment of love. We ought to love God and our neighbors, especially those in great need. We should not only speak about the Gospel of love. We must show it by loving other people. As a song goes, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love!"

I remember when I was in Grade School. I drew a picture of Jesus carrying the cross. Then I erased the cross and replaced it with many hearts, forming the shape of the cross. The picture below shows how the cross looked like. (Although I didn't draw Jesus carrying it anymore.) When I drew that picture years ago, I had this thought in mind: "Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love!"

Set Apart from the World

3rd Sunday of Lent Mar. 15, 2009 (Jn 2:13-25)

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold the doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, "Zeal for your house will consume me." At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

Today, we see Jesus cleansing the temple by driving away those who sold sheep, oxen and doves, as well as the money changers. Jesus tells them to stop making the temple a marketplace. The temple is the dwelling place of God and as such, it should be treated with respect. Something holy is something set apart and blessed. Therefore, the temple, being holy, should be set apart, free from worldly activities like the cheating done by money changers.

This particular narrative reminds us that in going to church, we must not act in the same way as we would in going to malls. We must have the proper disposition, wearing the proper attire and ready to worship God and to listen to His Words. This is giving proper respect to God and to His dwelling place.

Yes, we ought to respect the temple of God. We should cleanse it free of worldly things.

In this season of Lent, this Gospel passage calls us to holiness of life. It tells us that God's dwelling place must be respected and treated as holy. And since, according to Saint Paul, we too are the dwelling places of God (1 Cor 3:16-17), we ought to be holy.

Of course, we cannot become holy by our efforts alone. We need the help of God. We need to ask Jesus to cleanse us from our sins just as He cleansed the temple of worldly activities. And that is what Lent is all about. It is a time when we remember the worldly things surrounding our hearts and ask the Lord to get rid of these for us. We must strive to keep ourselves free from impure worship and a corrupted relationship with God.

It is really quite a challenge to be holy when we live in a material world. But that is the challenge of this Lenten Season. We must separate ourselves from worldly activities, except of course, those necessary for our survival. We must deny ourselves worldly pleasures and set our eyes on the things above. We must not be of this world even if we are in it.

Our church edifices are comparable to malls, in the sense that they are both buildings. But the big difference lies in this: Malls raise their billboards and advertisements as high as they can in order to remind people to patronize them and their products. Our churches, on the other hand, raise crosses and crucifixes as high as they can in order to show us the Savior and to remind us of our call to be holy. This is how the Church, though in the world, is not of the world. It is set apart from worldly things. We too, must be separated from the world. A balloon cannot reach heaven if its string is anchored to the ground. Similarly, we cannot reach the heavenly Kingdom if we attach ourselves to the world.

The Glory of Mount Calvary Foretold

2nd Sunday of Lent Mar. 8, 2009 (Mk 9:2-10)

Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

Jesus, in our Gospel today, is transfigured before Peter, James and John, on the top of a high mountain. Moses and Elijah appeared before Him and conversed with Him. Peter, probably ecstatic but not knowing what to say, wanted to stay there. Suddenly, the voice of the Father was heard from a cloud, saying "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Then, the vision was no more. Jesus was alone when the three disciples looked again.

The events of the Transfiguration are probably very familiar to us already. But what does this event in Jesus' life try to tell us? What is its significance in the Gospel, in the story of our redemption?

The Transfiguration is a revelation of Jesus' glory. We can note some similarities between this event and that of Jesus' Baptism, where the Father also proclaimed Jesus His only Son. The Father reveals Jesus to us and establishes Jesus' authority.

Moreover, the Transfiguration is a foreshadowing of things to come - Jesus' passion death and resurrection. Just as Jesus was made glorious on a mountain in His Transfiguration, He shall soon be made glorious on Mount Calvary, triumphant over sin in his death and resurrection.

This act of redemption, revealed only in Jesus, has been the plan of God all along. The Law, represented by Moses, and the prophets, represented by Elijah, all find fulfillment in Jesus and in His redemptive act. Jesus, conversing with Moses and Elijah, symbolizes such a great connection between the Old and the New Testaments and it makes one realize how marvelously God prepared our redemption throughout salvation history. The Transfiguration is indeed a glorious moment.

Beholding such glory, the disciples must have been in awe as much as they were terrified. Peter, in confusion, offered to stay there. But that vision, that moment of glory, was not everlasting. They cannot stay there. Jesus knew that He had to come down the mountain and face His mission - to suffer, to die, and to rise again. He had to climb another mountain, that is Calvary. The Transfiguration was not an escape from Calvary. Rather, it was a source of hope and strength for the disciples, and probably for Jesus too, who will be facing so much sufferings and difficulties.

Like Peter, we are often tempted to stay on the mountain of Transfiguration; we dwell in our past successes, refusing to do what remains to be done. But we have a mission to do. We have more mountains to climb. As Christians, we need to understand the great value of suffering. Life is not all resurrection and glory. In His Transfiguration, Jesus shows us that He is glorious because He does the will of the Father, even if it means suffering and stripping off His own glory as the Son of God.

Being faithful to our mission means embracing the pain and suffering that we shall meet. But God will transfigure us and give us strength, because He never abandons those who follow His path; He guides them. It is when we become faithful regardless of suffering that we can finally share in the full splendor and glory of the resurrection, in the life that is to come.

Man: His Power Against Temptation

1st Sunday of Lent Mar. 1, 2009 (Mk 1:12-15)

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

We are subject to temptation. This is because we, whose destiny is eternity in heaven, are born in time in this world where sin has crept. The lures of the evil one is very strong in this material world. So we have no choice. We will be subject to temptation; that's inevitable. We may sometimes crumble in the face of it. But we have the power to stand up and resist all temptation.

We Filipinos often hear, and even use, the "Tao lang, nagkakamali rin." argument. But this should not be abused. True, we have weaknesses. But we also have special capabilities that comes from God. We are gifted with intelligence, with a reason which tells us what is right; but often we do not listen to it. We are given faith, so we may call on God, our Father; but we do not pray. The "Tao lang, nagkakamali rin." statement should not make us dwell in our mistakes, accepting them as if they were alright. It should be a reminder, a challenge for us all to be bothered by the fact that we are weak and flawed, and thus be inspired to try and live a more virtuous life.

Jesus, in our Gospel today, shows us that living a virtuous life even when we're immersed in a culture of sin and death, is very possible. Jesus lived in the desert among wild beasts (Mk 1:12), yet He remained unharmed. In the same way, Jesus sends us like lambs among wolves. We are exposed, and sometimes, even threatened, by the wolves of evil in this world, but we are strong. The secret of Jesus' strength comes from God. The angels ministering to Jesus remind us that we, too, are in need of help; we offer to God our worship while we admit that we are sinners.

In this very dangerous world, Lent challenges us to die with our old selves in order to be made knew. We are called to acknowledge sinfulness and to repent. Most especially, we are called to believe in the good news of the kingdom.

Meeting Friends and Scribes along the Way

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 22, 2009 (Mk 2:1-12)

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" - he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

In the Gospel today, we see Jesus preaching in Capernaum. His fame was already spreading and the house he was in was soon crowded by people. Since there was no way to get to Jesus, four men carried a paralytic, most probably their friend, and made a hole in the roof of the house in order to let their paralytic friend meet Jesus. Jesus saw this as an act of great faith and he healed the man.

In this first part of the story, we see that infirmities and sufferings are not really that bad if we have friends with us. The paralytic in our Gospel was lucky to have four great friends who were concerned enough for his health that they even broke through a roof for him. Some friends today don't even care to exert effort to help their friends. They are only with you when there aren't any problems. When the storm comes, they are the first to abandon the ship and leave you alone. If you have friends who are loyal and always ready to help you no matter what it takes, then you're very lucky.

But let us also examine what kind of friends we are. It is better for us to have bad friends than to be bad friends ourselves. We should be like the four friends of the paralytic, ready to break through any roof for the well-being of the people we love, or even for the well-being of people whom we don't know, the people who need mercy the most. We, as Catholics, should have preferential love for the poor. If our neighbor, regardless of our relationship or the lack of a relationship with them, needs our help, by all means, we must help them. We must be the strength of the weak, the voice of the marginalized, and the eyes of the blind.

The act of loving and caring for our neighbor is not only for their temporal needs. In our spiritual journey towards God, we are all in need of others. Our relationship with God is not only two-way, between God and our individual selves. No. We journey towards Him with our neighbor and with a spiritual society, the Church. We need other people to help us come closer to God.

In the latter part of the Gospel, we see the scribes questioning Jesus' words. What Jesus first said to the paralytic were words of forgiveness. This, of course, raised an issue among the scribes. How could Jesus forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins! Of course, it was not given to the scribes to recognize Jesus as God. But that is not the issue. The issue is that the paralytic is being healed, yet all the scribes can think about is their theology. Could they not care about the paralytic who is finally going to be cured? Because of their theological discussions, the healing was delayed.

During that time, illness was considered a punishment due to sin. Therefore, we can understand why Jesus asked "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'?" If Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, then according to their notion of illness, the man should be healed. Jesus probably wanted to tell the people there that spiritual healing was more important than physical healing. He made the paralytic's need of His physical healing a symbol of a deeper need of being healed spiritually by God.

As we journey towards God, we meet a lot of problems, temporal or spiritual. We also meet a lot of people. These people may either help us get closer to God, as the paralytic's friends did to him, or they may delay our healing and journey towards God, as the scribes did to the paralytic. The challenge for us is to do everything within our power to make sure that our direction is towards God. The friends who may help us are just bonuses, and the scribes who may distract us are just tests. We must also make sure we become friends to others and be careful not to be scribes to them.

If You Wish

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 15, 2009 (Mk 1:40-45)

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Lepers are considered as unclean people. In the Old Testament, when they pass the streets, they should shout, "Unclean! Unclean!" In the Gospel today, Jesus is approached by one of these unclean lepers. The leper knelt down before Him and said, "If you wish you, can make me clean."

The leper, more or less, has an idea of who Jesus was. He might not have known that Jesus was the Son of God. But he knew that the one before Him was greater than him, a man of God. He did not demand Jesus' healing as if he had all the right to receive it. Instead, he prayed to Jesus in a way similar to how Mary humbly said yes to God. The leper said, "If you wish..."

This man is suffering from leprosy and he obviously needs healing, yet he went to Jesus saying, "If you wish..."! It is very common for us to pray for things that we need or want. But how often do we start our prayer with "If you wish..."? We must not pray to God, demanding everything that we are praying for. We must surrender our will to His perfect will. We must let Him decide what's best for us. After all, our Father knows best!

After beginning his prayer with a complete surrender to the will of Jesus, the leper asked for cleansing. We might not be all leprous. But the truth is, everyone of us has an uncleanliness. This uncleanliness is due to the fact that all have sinned (Rom 3:23). Whatever personal sins we have committed, however small, they are still sins and are, thus, uncleanliness. We need to acknowledge this uncleanliness so that we might allow God to cleanse us. The proud people who think they have no need of cleansing are not going to be cleansed. God also respects our will. We need to ask for cleansing, and this presupposes that we acknowledge our uncleanliness due to sin.

In comparison, when we ask a doctor to heal us, we admit that there is something wrong with us. In the same way, we need to admit our sinfulness before God and ask for His spiritual healing in order for Him to act.

Jesus probably saw the humility and the great faith of this leper that He granted his prayer immediately. After healing the leper, Jesus warned Him not to tell anyone about it. Instead, He instructed him to do what Moses prescribed for the cleansing rites of a leper. Why doesn't Jesus want His miracles to be broadcasted? It's simple really. Jesus wanted followers who would come to Him because of faith, not because of the longing for a miracle. Jesus wanted not fame, but faith. He was more concerned with the healing of the body and soul of a person.

But, indeed, how can the joyful ex-leper not proclaim the great miracle done to Him? It is but natural for us to spread the great joy we feel. It cannot be controlled, sometimes. Nevertheless, we still need to follow what is proper. In the case of the leper, he should have obeyed Jesus. It was the least he can do to show gratefulness.

Nevertheless, like the leper, we are invited to pray with an "If you wish" attitude before God. We need to submit ourselves to His wisdom. We must also admit our need of God in order for Him to work in our lives. We must invoke His presence. We should acknowledge the fact that we failed as sons and daughters of God and, at the same time, promise to do a better job as a child of God.

Father, if You wish, you can make us clean!

Amplifying the Message of Love with a Touch

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 8, 2009 (Mk 1:29-39)

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Jesus' public ministry was not only pure preaching about God and His Kingdom. It was characterized by so many great miracles that people couldn't help but seek for Him always. Jesus' fame was indeed spreading. We read in our Gospel today that after Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, the whole town was gathered before the door where He was. He healed many people there and drove out many demons. This cannot happen, of course, without the faith of the people. The people of the town probably had great faith, a prerequisite for any miracle.

Jesus' healing miracles are not for fame. If Jesus wanted to be famous, he would have let the demons speak about who He was before He drove them away. But as was said in the Gospel, He did not permit them to speak because they knew Him. Jesus' healing has a great purpose. It is part of His mission. It accompanied the Word of God which He preached. His healing touch amplifies the message of God's love. Through healing, He made it easier for people to understand that God loves them and cares for them. This is why Jesus went to many synagogues; He wanted to proclaim God's message through healing.

Jesus wants us to know that God loves us very much. So much so that, to save us from our world of sin and suffering, God Himself, in the person of Jesus, shared our humanity and was subjected to suffering. Jesus is not alien to the sufferings we encounter. It is written, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Heb 4:15)." Jesus showed us the value of human weakness and suffering. He showed us that our sufferings can be an offering to God.

In the midst of all the illnesses and sufferings we encounter, let us always remember God who is loving and caring. Many people lose hope and even faith in God just because they experience suffering. The popular question these days goes like this, "If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world?" Let us remember that all the sufferings and pain we experience today are caused by sin, not by God. God created everything good. We know this very well. It was sin that brought all the miseries and sufferings in this world. The first sin of our parents caused all the evils we face.

Let us remain faithful to our God of Love. Like Job, let us endure sufferings, offer them to God and pray that they be gone instead of cursing God for them. Let us also be sensitive to the sufferings of others. God loves all of us and He will heal all of us physically and spiritually in His time! Let us remind everyone of this Good News. Let us draw the sick towards God and show them that God cares through the Sacraments for the Sick. Let us bring back the sinners to the confessional and let God embrace them. Through our simple touch of love, we amplify the message of Jesus: God loves and cares!